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Saturday, May 21, 2016

Summer 2016 Video Game Guide

There’s
rarely a dull moment in the video game industry, and now is certainly no
exception.

Nintendo
has announced that they are launching their next console, the Nintendo NX, in
March of 2017. Techies eagerly await Sony’s groundbreaking virtual reality system,
the PlayStation VR, heading to stores this October.

And
rumors abound regarding possible upgrades to the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 (you may have heard mention of the “PlayStation 4.5”), consoles that are only
about two-and-a-half years old.

Here
are nine more tantalizing titles you might enjoy. Two you can pop in and play
right now; the rest you can enjoy over the next couple of months to escape the
summer heat.

As
always, release dates are subject to change.

Battleborn

PlayStation
4, Xbox One

Publisher:
2K Games. Developer: Gearbox Software.

ESRB
Rating: Teen

$59.99

Available
Now

Many
gamers are currently knee-deep in Battleborn,
a frenetic first-person hero shooter with elements of a MOBA, which, for you
noobs, stands for multiplayer online battle arena. If you have yet to take the
plunge, know this: the game features a robust lineup of 25 playable,
upgradeable characters, each of which has a storyline and distinctive
abilities, weapons and techniques. Five of the characters are immediately
available. To unlock the others, you must finish story missions, achieve new
player ranks or complete an assortment of tasks.

Developed
by Frisco-based Gearbox Software, creators of the hugely popular “Borderlands”
series, Battlebornreleased to mixed
reviews, but I like its visual panache and plethora of playable characters.

Disney Art Academy

Nintendo
3DS

Publisher:
Nintendo. Developer: Headstrong Games.

ESRB
Rating: Everyone

$29.99

Available
Now

Disney Art Academylets budding Botticellis
and those of us who can barely draw figures put stylus to screen and illustrate
more than 80 Disney and Pixar characters, from Mickey Mouse to Donald Duck to Snow
White to Elsa from Frozen.
Step-by-step lessons with tutorials make illustrating easy, and you can select
from nine different art tools, including pens, markers and spray cans. New to
the “Art Academy” series is a magic brush that lets you add such flourishes as
clouds, stars and glitter.

Once
you’ve created your 2D masterpiece (there is no 3D option), you can post it
directly to the Miiverse or on social media via the 3DS Image Share tool.

Golf
is the most genteel of sports. Players wear slacks and collared shirts while
viewers speak in hushed tones, clapping politely when their favorite golfer
sinks a long putt. Scratch all of that with Dangerous
Golf, a game of destruction the programmers refer to as a cross between Burnout, Black and NBA Jam.

Up
to eight players take turns “golfing” in such indoor locations as a kitchen, a
bathroom, a castle and a palace. Instead of just hitting the ball into a flagged
hole, gamers also splat food on walls, spill paint on works of art, set fire to
gas pumps and smash everything from dishes to microwave ovens to grand pianos
and grandfather clocks. Sounds like my kind of golf.

Kirby: Planet Robobot

Nintendo
3DS

Publisher:
Nintendo. Developer: HAL Laboratory.

ESRB
Rating: Everyone

$39.99

Release
date: June 10

Everyone’s
favorite pink puffball returns for another side-scrolling platform adventure in Kirby: Planet Robobot. Invaders have
mechanized Dreamland. To battle the baddies, Kirby, who can maneuver in the
foreground and background, uses more than 25 copy abilities, including three
new ones: Doctor, Poison, and ESP. Better yet, Kirby can now walk, slide,
shoot, fly, smash through obstacles and lift heavy objects while wearing
Robobot armor, which makes him more powerful than ever.

The
game also includes a mode called Team Kirby Clash, which lets up to four
players level up their characters (in RPG-like fashion) and cooperate to battle
bosses.

Grand Kingdom

PlayStation
4, PlayStation Vita

Publisher:
NIS America. Developer: Monochrome.

ESRB
Rating: Teen

$49.99

Release
date: June 21

Fans
of JRPGs (Japanese role-playing games) should be excited for the U.S. release
of Grand Kingdom, a tactical,
squad-based game that launched to largely positive reviews in the Land of the
Rising Sun last November. Players lead a team of mercenaries through the
fantasy world of Resonail, using bows, swords and magical attacks in turn-based
battles against such enemies as dragons, harpies and giant wolves.

The
single-player campaign has you trying to unravel the mystery of the collapse of
the Uldein Empire while online play lets you participate in continental warfare
between the Four Great Nations.

No Man’s Sky

PlayStation
4

Publisher:
Hello Games. Developer: Hello Games.

ESRB
Rating: Teen

$59.99

Release
date: June 21

An
immersive adventure set in a vast universe, No Man's Sky looks to be one of the most open-ended electronic experiences
we’ve ever seen. Exploration and survival take center stage as youtraverse
uncharted solar systems, travel to distant planets and suns, catalogue new life
forms, search for ancient artifacts, dogfight in outer space, engage in
first-person combat and collect resources to trade for ships, space suits and
other equipment.

You
can play solo or hop online and share your discoveries with other players, “naming
them and adding them to the Galactic Map, forever associated with your PSN ID.”
This game could literally keep you busy for years.

Umbrella Corps

PlayStation
4

Publisher:
Capcom. Developer: Capcom.

ESRB
Rating: Mature 17+

$29.99
(digital download only)

Release
date: June 21

An
offshoot of the popular “Resident Evil” series, which began on the original
PlayStation 20 years ago, Umbrella Corps
takes place in 2015, two years after the storyline from Resident Evil 6. The game side-steps the survivor horror genre the
series popularized in favor of third-person shooter action, not unlike the
non-canonical Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City.

As
a mercenary with a mission, you, cooperating with fellow mercenaries, compete
online to eliminate zombies while battling rival teams. Defeating enemies
grants points for use in customizing your mask, helmet, armor and Zombie
Jammer, the latter of which helps keep the baddies at bay. You can also unlock
and customize weaponry, such as the new, super powerful Doberman Pincer
shotgun.

If
you’re a diehard “Star Wars” fan, but you’ve dismissed the “LEGO” series as mere
kiddie fare, you might want to think twice about skipping this game, which
includes playable (not to mention canonical) story content bridging the gap
between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.

Gameplay
is similar to previous “LEGO” titles, with one or two players walking, jumping,
solving puzzles, piecing together items and engaging in comical, lighthearted
battles. New to the series are Multi-Builds, which let you use LEGO bricks to
open up new paths and then break them apart to open more paths, and Blaster
Battles, which let you use your surroundings as cover while facing the First
Order.

Star Ocean 5: Integrity and
Faithlessness

PlayStation
4

Publisher:
Square Enix. Developer: tri-Ace.

ESRB
Rating: Teen

$59.99

Release
date: June 28

Set
between Star Ocean: The Second Story
and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time,
this is one of those epic, cinematic, all-consuming role-playing games that
just may absorb your life, making you forget to shower, shave or interact with
actual human beings. It’s action-oriented at its core, however, with players,
as swordsman Fidel Camuze, engaging in real-time battles with beasts, bandits
and other enemies on the planet of Faykreed, which is 6,000 miles from Earth.

The
basic fighting system consists of simple three-button combat (light attack, heavy
attack, and guard), but gamers can create weapons and other items and switch
between seven controllable characters on the fly, each of whom has a different
fighting style. Japanese through-and-through, the anime-style characters were
designed by “Street Fighter” veteran Akira Yasuda.

Carmageddon: Max Damage

PlayStation
4, Xbox One

Publisher:
Stainless Games. Developer: Stainless Games.

ESRB
Rating: TBA

$39.99

Release
date: July 8

Remember
the 1975 Roger Corman-produced cult classic, Death Race 2000? It’s the one where “Machine Gun” Joe Viterbo
(Sylvester Stallone) and other racers run over pedestrians for points. With Carmageddon: Max Damage, the latest
title in a series that began in 1997, you can cause similar mayhem while
driving down grannies, nuns and cheerleaders, along with pedestrians on
bicycles, wheelchairs and mobility scooters. You can even hit such targets as aliens,
bears and penguins.

There
are more than 30 drivable vehicles to select from in this politically incorrect
game, and you can grab more than different 90 power-ups for increased carnage.
The action takes place in small battle arenas and across such large open
environments as city streets, arid deserts, country trails and icy wastelands,
“all packed with juicy meatbags for your killing pleasure.”

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About Me

A freelance writer, I'm the author of the Classic Home Video Games series, The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987, Encyclopedia of KISS, and other books. I've had articles published in numerous magazines and newspapers, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Filmfax, Fangoria, AntiqueWeek, The Writer, Mystery Scene, and more.
Contact me at brettw105 AT sbcglobal.net.